It is a universally accepted fact that the proper use of well designed infant and child restraint systems can significantly decrease the risk of death and serious injury in motor vehicle crashes involving normal children. A variety of both infant and child car seats and car beds are commercially available and the art includes several United States patents as well, see, e.g., Heath, U.S. Pat. No. 4,681,368, Child Restraint Bassinet, July 21, 1987; Heath, U.S. Pat. No. 4,501,032, Child Restraint Bassinet, Feb. 26, 1985; Watson, U.S. Pat. No. 4,481,685, Bassinet Restraint For Infants, Nov. 13, 1984; Takada, U.S. Pat. No. 4,366,587, Infant Safety Carrier For Vehicles, Jan. 4, 1983; Von Wimmersperg, U.S. Pat. No. 3,833,946, Sept. 10, 1974.
Unfortunately, the prior art does not address the special problem of transporting premature or physically disabled infants. For example, when premature infants are placed in semi-reclined infant safety seats, there is a potential for respiratory compromise. It has been suggested that parents of premature infants should be warned of the risks of auto travel when oxygen desaturation can occur and advised to travel as little as possible for the first few months of the infant's life. American Academy of Pediatrics, Transporting Children With Special Needs, Safe Ride News, Volume VI, Nos. 2 & 3. In view of the recent trend in medical care which encourages early discharge of premature infants from the hospital, it is often necessary to transport premature babies to and from the hospital for medical monitoring and attention.
In addition to the problem of transporting premature infants in presently available infant safety seats, many physically handicapped and other medically fragile infants are unable to travel in a semi-reclined position for a variety of reasons (spica casts, spinal cord injuries, degenerative neurological diseases, injuries requiring orthopedic appliances, etc.).
Thus, there exists an immediate need for a car bed for premature and physically disabled infants to allow them to be transported in either a prone or supine position while affording the same or a superior level of crash protection to that offered by conventional infant safety seats. The improved car bed must also demonstrate compliance with the performance evaluation criteria of Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard No. 213 (FMVSS 213)--Child Restraint Systems, and should preferably also be suitable for use by normal, premature, and physically disabled infants.